Chicago Campus Research Highlights

Early BPA exposure boosts men’s cancer risk

A UIC researcher has found new evidence linking early exposure to BPA (bisphenol A), an additive commonly found in plastic water bottles and soup can liners, to increased risk of prostate cancer. “This is the first direct evidence that exposure to BPA during development, at the levels we see in our day-to-day environment, increases the risk for prostate cancer in human prostate tissue,” said Gail Prins, professor of physiology and director of the andrology laboratory in urology in the College of Medicine.»Early BPA exposure boosts men’s cancer risk

Alcohol breaks brain connections needed to process social cues

Alcohol intoxication reduces communication between two areas of the brain that work together to properly interpret and respond to social signals, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

Their results were published in the September issue of Psychopharmacology.

UIC researchers will study gender differences in how the heart uses and stores fat — its main energy source — and how changes in fat metabolism play a role in heart disease. When stressed, the heart changes how it uses fuel for energy. These changes, which may play a major role in the development of heart disease, are different in men and women, says E. Douglas Lewandowski, director of the UIC Center for Cardiovascular Research. The changes, which occur long before any symptoms, may be key to early diagnosis and treatment, said Lewandowski, principal investigator for a new $2 million, 4-year grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.» Full Story: Gender’s Role in Development of Heart Disease